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Elgin 'plastic road' is way ahead


By Lorna Thompson

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A BUILDER is leading the way in its use of waste plastic to build a road at an Elgin housing development.

In a UK first, Springfield has laid an innovative type of road surfacing material containing waste plastic on a section of road at its Linkwood Steadings development in Elgin.

The product cuts the amount of bitumen needed in the asphalt mix. For every tonne of bitumen replaced, the road surfacing carbon footprint is reduced by a tonne of carbon dioxide.

The move propels Springfield forward in efforts to make developments more environmentally sustainable.

The new surface looks every inch like a traditional road, but the flexible properties of plastic add to durability and longevity.

plastic road
plastic road

The Elgin-based company teamed up with MacRebur, which has developed and patented a way to use waste plastic in roads, alongside asphalt producer Pat Munro. MacRebur uses plastic that would otherwise have gone to landfill or incineration. It reduces plastic to granules which are mixed with a special activator, cutting the amount of fossil fuel required in asphalt production.

The firm's north managing director, Dave Main, said: "Last year, Zero Waste Scotland reported that non-recycled plastic was costing Scotland £11 million a year. They also stated that 20 million plastic bottles were littered around Scotland and that 120,000 tonnes of plastic waste was produced by Scottish households alone.

"The road in Elgin accounts for 20 tonnes of recycled plastic – the equivalent to 17,042 plastic bags or 6,000 plastic bottles – which would otherwise have been consigned to landfill or incineration.

"Potholes are an increasing and costly problem which plastic roads could help to address. Between 2014-17, there was a 52% increase in reports of potholes in Scotland alone. MacRebur’s plastic roads have been through rigorous tests to meet British and European standards and are up to 60% stronger than our current roads, which should improve driving quality and reduce maintenance costs."

Springfield press and events co-ordinator Dale Ashelford helped initiate and deliver the plastic road project. She said: "We have an ethos at Springfield where employees are given opportunities to develop wherever possible. When I pitched the recycled plastic roads idea, I was encouraged to take the idea forward myself.

"Despite having no civil engineering experience, I worked with the civils team and Dave Main to bring the idea to fruition. It’s been a great project to get my teeth into and it’s exciting to have, what I’m sure will be, the first of many plastic roads in Springfield developments."

Chief executive Innes Smith said: "We already have our second stretch of private road planned, and going forward we will be discussing recycled plastic roads with local authorities with a goal to using plastic roads on all of our developments across Scotland."


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